Ketchikan, Alaska with the Royal Princess

Before I start with today, I need to finish up last night's activities. We had the Captain's Circle Party. Being I was recognized for 500 days with Princess we were able to bypass the long line and use a different entrance, have special seats allocated just for us, and get drinks right away.

It wasn't long after this picture was taken when I told hubby we needed to promise each other something - if we ever got to those 2,000+ days like the others in the front row we would not be dismissive of someone at just 500 days. It was clear by the folks around us that we weren't at their "level". That they were better than us. I've written about this one-upness issue back in November. Although I don't know if the guy sitting on the other side of me was any better. He was a passenger looking for a seat, looked at my place card, wanted to know how many days I was celebrating, and told me he wanted to sit by me because then maybe everyone else would think he was a VIP, too. I guess we all need to feel special in front of other people.

After the party we went and sat outside for a bit. It was a beautiful night on the Horizon Terrace.

 

We even saw whales out there!

Now back to Ketchikan...

Our crew member gal still didn't have a workable schedule for us all to go out together so we headed out by ourselves. We knew we wanted Burger Queen like we did last week. We also knew from last week's hour wait they deliver to the Arctic Bar across the street.

I knew the bar would be interesting when we saw this t-shirt for sale inside. If I wasn't so full of joy and kindness and spreading love everywhere I go I would be pretty tempted to buy it. (Not really, but it did give me a giggle contemplating how it would go over if I wore it on the ship.)

When we found a table that had just been vacated by crew members I had yet another giggle when I looked at the cup left behind. The bloody Mary and Long Island Iced Tea were ours; the mug wasn't. The Arctic Bar is quite the cheeky place.

We drank for a while, then called up Burger Queen for lunch. They run the food on over to the bar when it's ready. I again forgot to take a pic of the burger as we ate it too fast. It was just so darn tasty. Here's their menu:

and their delivery guy...

Check out my 5 Things to do in Ketchikan if you want to know what to do in town that doesn't involve salty language.

All aboard isn't until 5:30 but we needed to head back a bit earlier to get a nap in before tonight's Most Traveled Guest party. We came back to more treats in our cabin for my 500th day with Princess celebration. We've had something arrive every single day. Wow.

Another great day with the Royal Princess in Alaska.

Tomorrow we have our last sea day of our cruise. Sad.

Want to know more about cruising Alaska? You can search using key words and come up with a slew of posts, but you can also check out my Cruising Alaska resources section here where you'll find the most recent posts.

Royal Princess in Juneau, Alaska

Sometimes I feel guilty when we're cruising and I decide not to get off the ship in port. It's like I feel this obligation to get out there and do something productive. I had contemplated going whale watching last week, but with me writing about the incident in Ketchikan the day prior I wasn't in the mood. I contemplated going whale watching today but I again didn't feel in the mood. I already had an amazing whale watching day in Cabo San Lucas this year anyway. (You can read about that day here.) Our crew member had a limited time to get off the ship today so we didn't go out to eat with her, either. 

Looking for ideas for Juneau? Check out my 5 Things to do in Juneau list right here.

There are a myriad of things we could have done today but we did absolutely nothing and I'm good with it. I figured it's my vacation and I can do however much or little as I'd like. This is our 17th trip to Juneau. I think it's just fine and dandy to stay on the ship. So what did I do with my time on board?

I sat by the Retreat Pool in the beautiful Alaska sunshine.

I looked at the trees from my lounge chair.

I watched the Mt. Roberts Tram go up and down the mountain.

I took a photo of my personal yacht for the day.

Had Alfredo's again. Wrote the blog. Will go to the Captain's Circle Party tonight. (We never, ever go to those things but since it's a milestone cruise I'll be recognized so we'll need to be there. Since it's formal night and we didn't bring formal clothes we'll do the best we can.)

A nice, relaxing, vacation day in Alaska. Tomorrow we're off to our last port of the cruise, Ketchikan.

Want to know more about cruising Alaska? You can search using key words and come up with a slew of posts, but you can also check out my Cruising Alaska resources section here where you'll find the most recent posts.

Scrap Fabric Heart Coasters Sewing Project- Tutorial Tuesday

Looking for a homemade project idea for making drink coasters for Valentine's Day? Have extra fabric scraps around? Sew up these quick and easy heart coasters!

It's Tutorial Tuesday and today we are making some heart coasters. I think of hearts as a Valentine's Day project, but I also think of them applying for summer and the 4th of July. Hearts and stars and stripes and all.

For this project you will need:

• backing fabric
• foundation fabric
• cotton batting
• red strips of fabric 
• something to use as a template for the heart (a cookie cutter or one you’ve cut out of paper)
• Pinking shears, optional 
• Basting spray
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Iron

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

An updated pattern - It's a digital download with the written directions, step-by-step photos, printable templates, and link to the tutorial video. 

Looking for something else? 

Check out some of my other Valentine's Day sewing and crafting projects!

Otherwise you can find the tutorial for the quick and easy scrap fabric heart coasters sewing project right here:

Royal Princess in Skagway, Alaska

Welcome to Skagway!

Today was about food, drink, crew, and amazing weather. We started our day with taking the crew member we came on this ship to see out to lunch at the Sweet Tooth Cafe. After a lengthy lunch we moved onto Starfire to get takeout for her hubby who was still on duty. I've written about Sweet Tooth Cafe and Starfire several times over, this last week included. (You can find last week's Skagway post here.)

When she had to go back to the ship we moved onto a new restaurant, The Skagway Brewing Company. While the restaurant itself isn't new, their location is. So new that some of the online maps still show their old location down at the end of town. But now they have a brand new large building right next to Starfire on 4th Avenue.

We sat outside, enjoying the beautiful Skagway day. Look one way and see trees and blue sky. And beer flights and Long Island Iced Tea.

Look another way and see snow-capped mountains through the windows.

Head to the bathroom to find this unique sign of beer-holding people pointing the right way.

Here's the menu, if you're interested. They have an extended menu in their restaurant upstairs but we stayed downstairs in the outside area.

We spent a significant amount of time there. All aboard wasn't until 8 pm so why not, right? We visited with a nice couple from our ship who were first time cruisers. I enjoy listening to new cruiser perspectives and in Alaska am reminded of how tough the first day of a cruise can be when embarking in Whittier. You may be coming off a land tour which can be oh-so-exhausting. It's not unusual to barely make it in time for the Muster Drill (around 7:45 pm in Whittier). Whether you just flew into Anchorage that same day or were in Denali beforehand you will most likely arrive at the ship physically and mentally tired. You're then rushed on the ship, hurried to Muster Drill, and may be too tired for dinner afterwards. It's just a tough day all around. It should be easier, but it just isn't.

We left the Brewing Company after 5 pm and headed to the Popcorn Emporium around the corner and munched on some of the samples as we sat outside on a bench. We finally headed back to the ship close to six.

And went right to a couch near the Princess Live theater. We found a bar steward we hadn't seen in a couple years on this ship (didn't even know he was here - what a great surprise!) and had more drinks.

And then moved on to Alfredo's for our favorite pizza. Pepperoni, garlic, and extra cheese. Hubby opted for red onions, too. Crazy that the pizza is free here. It is so darn good.

Then we finally, finally, headed back to the cabin so I could type up this blog. Found more food here, too. More goodies for my 500 day celebration. Got a certificate to boot.

It was an amazing day in Skagway. I say this every year, but I think I could live here.  

Want to know more about cruising Alaska? You can search using key words and come up with a slew of posts, but you can also check out my Cruising Alaska resources section here where you'll find the most recent posts.

Off to Juneau tomorrow.